Throughout the year, Blair invites professional artists from all walks of life and in varying mediums to showcase their work in the Romano Gallery inside the Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts. Each exhibiting artist hosts an opening reception for students to meet with the artist and ask questions about their work and art-making process. For our young artists, it is an opportunity to learn from skilled artisans while observing techniques and envisioning their own path through the arts—but twice a year, the tables turn.

Student artwork fills the gallery for a limited time during the Fall Student Art Exhibit. Before the semester ends, the fruits of weeks of labor are on display for the community to enjoy. Last week, the gallery was filled with connoisseurs admiring their classmates’ pieces and asking questions of the artists who stood by, eager to discuss their passions.

“We’re so happy to celebrate the close of the first semester with our Blair fine artists,” Romano Gallery Director Eliza Link shares. “We’re loving the beautifully executed paintings, sculptural wonders, explorations in mixed media, photography, pencil and more. The sky is the limit!”

At the center of the gallery sits a collection of ceramics from our studio in the Chiang-Elghanayan Center for Innovation and Collaboration. Looking almost too good to eat is a basket of strawberries crafted by Nina Andrasek ’26, who explores the role of farm stands in fostering community and translates that connection into sculptural form through her years of ceramics classes.

“Having grown up in a rural area, I’ve always been drawn to the whimsy and uniqueness of farm stands,” Nina explains. “This semester, I’ve had a lot of fun finding ways to bring that charm into my work, whether through sculpting signs, throwing vases, or crafting fruits and vegetables. The basket of strawberries I featured in the art exhibit was especially exciting to create. I experimented with slip casting for the first time to replicate the texture and shape of a fruit basket, while each strawberry was individually hand-sculpted.”

For Nina, getting the chance to exhibit her work to the Blair community was especially meaningful as she looks toward graduation in the spring. “It allowed me to share a part of myself that people may not know about me.”

While Nina’s ceramics drew viewers in with their charm, across the gallery another senior’s work captured motion and emotion: Frank Eldridge ’26, whose action-packed photography lines the walls—from athletics events to trips to New York City.

“A lot of my time spent on photography this year was trial and error,” Frank shares. “I spent a lot of time going to soccer and football games looking for shots that were captivating, showed emotion and told a story.”

For fellow photographer Margaret Swift ’26, her work this semester grew out of experimentation and reflection. Photography classes at Blair have really opened up a side of herself she didn’t know existed, and she loves how unpredictable and in the moment the medium is, sharing how some of her best work came outside of class when she just happened to be shooting. 

“Letting everyone in the community see my work is really rewarding, but also intimidating,” Margaret explains. “But seeing people pause, look closely and connect with the work in their own ways makes the process worthwhile.”

The Fall Student Art Exhibit continues Blair’s long tradition of celebrating creativity, turning the spotlight on the artists right here on our hilltop. Stop by the Romano Gallery to see all the artists’ work before break. The show ends December 15!